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Florida Continues to Lead the Nation in Advanced Placement Exams

Posted on February 6, 2019

Florida students potentially save $133 million with outstanding AP performance

Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran announced that Florida ranks first among the 50 states in participation and third in the nation for performance on Advanced Placement (AP) exams during high school, according to data released by the College Board.

Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said, “These results are worthy of celebration, and I congratulate the students whose hard work and dedication is paying off. Governor DeSantis has a bold vision for making Florida first in all education measures, and his massive investments in K-12 education will help Florida’s students soar to even greater heights. I look forward to working with the Legislature to secure this critical education funding, with the goal of topping this accomplishment and every other national ranking moving forward.”

There are significant financial benefits to students who perform well on AP exams. According to the College Board, in May 2018, Florida public and private high school students took a total of 209,678 AP exams that resulted in scores of 3, 4, or 5. Based on students’ opportunity to earn at least 3 college credits for each AP exam score of 3 or higher, this represents an estimated 629,034 college credits. At an average rate of $212.00 per credit hour, the total potential cost savings for the state’s students and families was $133,355,208.

Florida highlights of the AP Report include:

Compared to the other states, Florida has the highest percentage of graduates who took an AP exam during high school (55.9%).

Florida’s 2018 graduates have the third highest AP success rate in the nation with 31.7 percent scoring a 3 or higher on an AP exam during high school, moving up from 4th place in 2017.

The percentage of Florida graduates who succeeded on AP exams is 8.2 percentage points higher than the national average (23.5%).

A majority of Florida’s 2018 graduates who took an AP exam during high school also passed an AP exam.

Florida is ranked 3rd in the nation for improvement over the past 10 years in the percentage of graduates scoring 3 or higher on the AP exam during high school, improving by 12.4 percentage points during the last decade.

Lee County and Manatee County made the 9th annual AP Honor Roll, which recognizes districts increasing access to AP coursework while simultaneously maintaining or increasing their success.